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Tessie and I brought 2 friends to the ocean to stay 2 nights at a WA state park with RV power points that are standard 12A 125V or 30/50A but requiring NEMA TT~30 (not the pistol). Affter >24 hours of charging at 12A, gaining 4 mph, and since we don't leave until tomorrow, we'll be fine. Is there a NEMA 14~50 to TT~30 adapter? What would you have done, short of abandoning our other 5 friends and going to a park with more modern wiring (and perhaps without yurts)?

Not sure how well the above linked adapter would really work since it only sends 120vac to your NEMA 14-50 plug. Those 30 amp plugs are only 120v.

mikeadams | February 5, 2013

I am also looking for a solution for connecting to a NEMA TT-30 outlet.

nwdiver93 | February 5, 2013

NEMA TT-30 would work for 240v but I have never found one at an RV park. I did discover that the 30 amp and 20 amp circuits are fed from two separate hots so it would be possible to combine them to get 240v.

nickjhowe | February 5, 2013

The car doesn't care what you feed it. You could put a NEMA 14-50 outlet on a 10A breaker on a 120V circuit if you want (I'm sure this is against code), and as long as you dialed the current down on the car you could charge fine, albeit slowly.

jat | February 6, 2013

Yes, people have made adapters to NEMA 14-50 receptacles so they could plug into a 20A@120V circuit, and the mobile charger handles that just fine. So, you should be able to use that adapter and charge at 24A@120V.

nickjhowe | February 6, 2013

I have TT-30, 10-30 and 14-30plugs connected to NEMA 14-50 sockets, and a 14-50p to 14-50r 30' extension lead. Tested it in my 10-30 dryer outlet tonight at 24A (30A breaker) at 240V and worked fine (albeit the 10-30 plug spades were a little warm when the car finished charging). The original idea was just to have a 14-30 to 14-50 for use at my mother-in-laws house, but I got carried away and thought I might as well have the other two, too. ;-)

Kit-60kWh now 85D | February 8, 2013

Thanks for your ideas. I think I'll get one of the adapters nickjhowe pointed out. My electrician said the wires could handle the amperage safely. (I did get recharged and home OK, with 16 mi. range remaining.)

nickjhowe | February 8, 2013

Remember that the off the shelf item I linked to is only for a TT-30 outlet found in RV parks. If you want something for a 10-30 or 14-30 dryer outlet you'll need to make one yourself or choose one of the 'custom cable' options that quite a few online electrical retailers offer. The latter won't be cheap.

Brian H | February 8, 2013

Yurts tend to have marginal wiring. So you have to hang around for a couple of days. >;)

nathan.dudley | April 18, 2015

Making 220 volts by using the hots from the two different outlets would probably not work. Yes the voltmeter would measure 220 volts, but the GFCI would likely trip instantly on the 20 amp circuit. There would be little to no current returning from the hot to the neutral wire.

Rocky_H | April 20, 2015

@nathan.dudley, You are correct. Products like the Quick220 specifically do mention that you can't use it on GFCI outlets because of that detection and tripping that you mentioned. But there are plenty of 15A and 20A outlets around that are not GFCI.

sorka95032 | April 20, 2015

Using two different outlets will only work if they are on the opposite legs of the transformer.

Rocky_H | April 20, 2015

Ah, yes, another good point. You might need a long extension cord to get to another room that is on the other pole of your house's electric feed so it will work. The Quick220 seems pretty nice with having indicator lights to let you know when you have found those two circuits that will work.

Interesting stuff, but we're kind of off the RV topic now.

sorka95032 | April 20, 2015

Still, even at 20 amps, 220v will take 16 hours to charge a model S from empty to full. Still better than the 87 hours it takes for standard 120 15 amps.

LostInPA | April 21, 2015

I'm not as brave as you guys. I won't drive my S anyplace that isn't near a supercharger. If the SC route takes me too far out of the way... then I opt to drive my hybrid vehicle. I don't hate gas stations that much!

Planning to take weekend trip from south central PA to Niagara on the Lakes area in summer. SC route is approximately 740 miles versus hybrid route of 308 miles! Not a knock on my S85, but that's a lot of miles to drive out of the way just to avoid using gas. Plus that's 7.5 hours of having to put up with my spouse telling me ..."you should have drove the other car".

garygid | April 21, 2015

When the Buffalo supercharger is completed in (roughly) June,
that will make a big difference in planning your trip. Do not
take the suggestions of the Route Planner in the car as gospel,
since it tends to be rather over-conservative in managing the
remaining energy in your car. Probably one SC stop going and
one stop returning (with charging near Buffalo) would do the trip
for a slightly gentle driver.

These adapt the NEMA TT-30R to a NEMA 14-50R which you can then plug the mobile connector into. You need to dial down the current to 30A, and should get ~8 mi/hr charge rate.

rjp | April 21, 2015

PS: many campgrounds have mostly "30 amp hookups" (usually meaning NEMA TT-30R), but a smattering of "50 amp service", usually meaning NEMA 14-50R. Always worth checking if there are 50A hookups anywhere in the campground. Also, I've been told at a couple of campgrounds that I would need to dial down the current to ~40A to avoid damaging their equipment.

TomServo | April 21, 2015

I find it sad that you buy a $80K car and have to figure out a way to charge it at RV camps to get your destination.

Hopefully Tesla's S/C network expands soon. And considering all the M3's they hope to sell with a 200 mile range (BTW is that 200 miles in the winter) S/Cers will need to start popping up all over the place.

LostInPA | April 21, 2015

@garygid ...The future Buffalo SC will not do. Buffalo is 286 miles from my place in south central PA (Mechanicsburg) and about 35 miles away from the Niagara on the Lake area. And there are no SC's with 100 miles of I-390 (the main road I will be using).

I do not blame the existing SC network, as I knew what was in place prior to my purchase. Since, there is no convenient way to get to my destination... I just have to make do and burn some fossil fuel for this trip. When and if the SC network expands in PA, then it will be a different story.

On the plus side, the new SC in Grove City now allows me to visit family in Columbus. Prior to that travel to Columbus was possible but the return trip would present problems.

As stated earlier, I'm just not as daring or as patient as the OP to charge at a RV park.

Rocky_H | April 21, 2015

@LostInPA, Quote: "I'm not as brave as you guys. I won't drive my S anyplace that isn't near a supercharger. If the SC route takes me too far out of the way... then I opt to drive my hybrid vehicle."

Ha! This actually did cause me to laugh out loud. You are coming at this from the wrong assumption. I am not driving TO someplace that doesn't have a Supercharger. I can't get out of where I live without using some other form of charging because there aren't any Superchargers near me. I've had my Model S for just over a year, and they should be building the Superchargers near my city in the next few months.

@TomServo, Quote: "I find it sad that you buy a $80K car and have to figure out a way to charge it at RV camps to get your destination."

What? Why is it sad? Should Tesla have built all of the Superchargers around the world before they sold a single car? No, that would be stupid. So we are at the mercy of not being able to time travel. Some people wanted to go ahead and buy the car even though the Superchargers aren't built out to them yet. Some people were glad to be able to experience the awesomeness of driving the Model S where they live and charge at home, and make do with something else (rental or other car) on the occasional longer trips until the Supercharger system gets more extensive. So things are not quite as wonderful during the first year or so of owning it as the next 14 years or so will be. Is that so awful? Anyway, I hate that kind of attitude where people quote the price they paid for the car, so it should rub their feet or cook them breakfast or something. It's a car, and people hopefully make a purchase decision knowing what it is capable of and what the use and ownership of it will entail, so that's on them of whether the pros and cons were worth it. It's not like the car knows how much was paid for it and should try to do better.

Besides, it's not like you have to be camping out in the woods. Many cities have the RV parks in town, and there is plenty of stuff within a few blocks.